Spooling device



Oct. s, 1935. N, H NYE 2,016,510

SPOOLING DEVICE Filed April 50, 1931 Patented Oct. 8, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SPOOLING DEVICE Application April 30, 1931, Serial No. 533,894

3 Claims.

This invention relates to devices for winding material upon a spool or the like, and more particularly to devices of this kind in which the speed of the winding means is controlled by the material being wound.

Winding 'devices of this general type have been proposed heretofore in which the speed of the winding means is regulated by varying the speed of an electric driving motor, however in these devices, the speed regulation of the electric motor has usually been obtained by shifting the motor brushes or by employing a rheostat in the motor circuit. Winding devices employing speed regulating means of the kind mentioned are usually costly to manufacture, and are often troublesome and unreliable in operation.

By my invention I aim to provide a novel form of winding device in which the speed of the winding means is regulated by absorbing a portion of the power developed by the driving motor and controlling such absorption of power by the material being wound.

Another object of this invention is to provide a winding mechanism in which an auxiliary device is employed for absorbing a portion of the power developed by the motor to thereby regulate the speed of the winding means, and controlling the auxiliary device from the material being wound.

A further object of this invention is to provide a winding device of the kind mentioned in which the auxiliary power absorbing device is a blower, and valve means, for controlling the operation of the blower, is actuated by the material being wound.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying sheet of drawings in which Figure 1 is an elevational view of a winding device embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevational View of another winding device embodying my invention; and I Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken through the speed responsive control means of Fig. 2.

In the drawing I have shown winding devices embodying my invention, which are suitable for winding wire or other strand or strip material, and in which the speed of the winding means is automatically regulated. Before proceeding with a detailed description thereof, it should be understood that my invention is not limited to the particular embodiments or devices illustrated since the principle of my invention may be incorporated in various winding mechanisms.

In Fig. 1 my winding device is shown as being associated with a machine ID, such as a wire drawing machine, from which the strand H is being delivered to a spool I2, or like means, upon which it is to be wound. Adjacent the spool the 5 strand may be guided by any of the well known forms of distributing or laying mechanisms, such as the distributor l3 here shown. The spool is removably supported upon a suitable arbor secured to the shaft I4, and is driven by an electric motor I5 which is connected to the shaft by means of the coupling l6.

It is Well known that during the usual operation of winding devices, the speed at which the I spool is to be driven must be variable to compensate for changes occurring in the diameter of the spool incident to the building up of the wound material thereon. Additionally, it is desirable that the winding means be so controlled, that changes occurring in the rate of strand delivery by the machine H3, will not result in breakage or tangling of the strand. According to my invention, as will be presently explained in detail,

I regulate the speed of the spool to take care of the conditions just mentioned, by varying the speed of the driving motor. Accordingly, as the driving means for the spool, I select an electric motor of the type designed to give a wide variation in speed with a variation in load. This motor may be of the alternating squirrel-cage type having rotor bars of high resistance material, a series wound direct-current motor, or any motor having similar characteristics.

To vary the load of the motor to thereby regulate the speed of the spool according to the re- Y quirements of the strand being wound, I provide a pumping device, which in this insence is shown as the centrlfugal blower it, for absorbing a part of the power developed by the motor. The rotor or impeller of this blower is keyed, or otherw se secured, to the armature shaft of the motor at the end thereof opposite the coupling 56, so that as the motor is operated to drive the spool 52 it will also drive the impeller of the blower.

To control the operation of the blower ii and 4,5

thereby regulate the amount of power which this auxiliary device will absorb from the motor l5, I provide a throttle valve l8 which, in the arrangement illustrated, is located in the discharge passage l9, although the same could, if desired, be located in the intake passage of the blower. This valve is so arranged that it can be moved from a wide open position affording maximum discharge opening for the blower, to a closed position in which the discharge opening of the 55 blower is completely closed. For actuating this throttle valve in response to the tension of the strand being wound, I provide a tension device 2% which may be in the form of the angularly disposed levers 2| and 22 which are pivoted upon a suitable support, such as the casing of the machine Ill. At the free end of the longer lever 2i of this arrangement, I provide a sheave 23 over which the strand it passes, and at the free end of the shorter lever 22, I provide a rod 24 which connects the tension device with the actuating lever 25 of the valve 13. Intermediate the sheave 23 and the pivoted end of the lever 2|, I provide a tension spring 25. One end of this spring is anchored, as by being secured to the casing of the machine 50, and the other end is secured to the lever 29 so that the spring will normally tend to elevate this lever and thereby move the valve toward closed position,

It will be seen from the arrangement described that if the spool l2 tends to run too fast, so as to take up the strand it faster than it is being delivered by the machine l9, the tension of the strand will be increased and the lever 2! will be drawn downwardly against the action of the spring 25. This downward movement of the lever 28 will cause the valve E8 to be moved toward open position thereby allowing the blower to deliver more air and consequently causing the same to absorb a larger part of the power devel oped by the motor i5, with the result that the speed of the motor, and likewise the speed of the spool, will be reduced. If the spool runs too slow and the strand H tends to slacken, the spring 26 will elevate the lever 2! thereby moving the valve is toward closed position, with the result that the blower will deliver a smaller volume of air and consequently absorb a smaller amount of the power developed by the motor, and the speed of the spool will be correspondingly increased.

In varying the speed of the motor to control the speed of the spool, a liquid pump or any suitable power absorbing device may be used,

although I prefer to employ the centrifugal blower illustrated because of the simplicity and cheapness of construction of these devices. It is characteristic of centrifugal blowers that the power required to drive them varies from a maximum at full throttle valve opening to a very small amount of power when the throttle valve is fully closed. In other words, the power required to drive the blower is substantially proportional to the volume of fluid delivered through the discharge opening, so that by simply varying the area of the discharge (or inlet) passage the power absorbed by the blower can be varied and the speed of the winding means will be regulated accordingly.

In Fig. 2 of the drawing I have shown another winding device embodying my invention, wherein the speed at which the spool 33 is driven by the electric motor 34 is regulated by a control device actuated in response to the lineal speed of the strand 32 being delivered to the spool by the machine 50. The strand delivered by the machine is wrapped around the drum or sheave 33, so that in passing to the spool the strand will rotate this drum and also the spindle or shaft 34 to which it is secured. The spindle extends through, and is rotatably supported in, a shaft 35 which is mounted in a bearing bracket 36. At its inner end, or in other words at the end thereof opposite the drum 33, the spindle is helically threaded to provide the screw portion this arrangement that if the pulley 39 and the drum 33 are driven at the same speed there will be no relative movement between the nut and the spindle, but if the pulley and drum are not driven at the same speed, relative movement therebetween will cause the spindle to travel through the nut in one direction or the other.

At the inner end of the spindle 34, I provide a contact button 4| which engages a contact member '42 for transmitting motion to the throttle valve 43 of the centrifugal blower M which is driven by the motor 3!. The contact member 42 is rotatably mounted upon the end of the actuating rod 55 and is normally held in engagement with the button ll by the tension spring lb which tends to move the valve 3 toward close-cl position, Movement of the spindle 34 axially in one direction will be limited by the button ll engaging the boss of the collar 38, and movement of this member in the opposite direction will be limited by the boss 47 of the drum 33 engaging the cover 58 of the bearing bracket 36.

It will be understood that in the operation of the winding device illustrated in Fig. 2, should the spool run too fast in relation to the rate at which the material is being delivered by the machine it, the drum 33 will be rotated relative to the pulley 39 and cause the threaded portion 31 to travel through the nut 38 in a right-hand direction, as seen in this figure. This axial movement of the spindle 34 will cause the throttle valve 43 to be moved toward the open position thereby increasing the amount of power which the centrifugal blower will absorb from the motor 3!, and consequently reducing the speed of the spool. If the spool tends to run too slow in relation to the rate of delivery of material by the machine Ill, the drum 33 will lag behind the pulley 39 and again cause axial travel of the threaded portion through the nut 38, but in the opposite direction, or in other words, toward the left as seen in Fig. 2. Axial movement of the spindle 34 toward the left permits the spring 46 to move the throttle valve of the centrifugal blower toward closed position, so that a smaller amount of the power developed by the motor 3| will be absorbed by the blower, and consequently the speed of the spool will be increased.

It will now be readily seen that I have provided a simple and efficient form of winding mechanism wherein the speed of the spool driving motor is varied by an auxiliary power absorbing device which is controlled by means actuated from the strand being wound. It will also be readily seen from the arrangements described that my invention affords a positive and sensitive control for regulating the speed of the 'spool, so that winding operations may be performed at comparatively high speeds and without danger of strand breakage even though the material to be wound may be in the nature of a delicate strand of fine wire.

While I have illustrated and described the devices of my invention in a detailed manner it should be understood however, that I do not intend to limit myselfto the precise details of construction and arrangements of parts illustrated and described, but regard my invention as including such changes and modifications as do not involve a departure from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In apparatus of the character described the combination of rotatable means upon which material may be wound, a variable speed motor for driving said rotatable means, auxiliary means for absorbing some of the power developed by said motor to vary the speed of the latter, a control for regulating the absorption of power by said auxiliary means, a pair of substantially coaxially arranged rotatable cooperating members one of which is driven by said material, means for driving the other of said members at substantially constant speed, said members being arranged for relative movement along their common axis in response to relative rotary movement between the members, and means actuated by such relative axial movement for operating said control.

2. In apparatus of the character described the combination of rotatable means upon which material may be wound, a variable speed motor for driving said rotatable means, and means for varying the speed of said motor to thereby regulate the speed of said rotatable means comprising a pump driven by said motor, a valve for controlling the output of the pump, a pair of substantially coaxially arranged rotatable cooperating members, one of said members being driven by said material, means for driving the other of said members at substantially constant speed, said members being arranged for relative movement along their common axis in response to relative rotary movement between the members, and means actuated by such relative axial movement for operating said valve.

3. In apparatus of the character described the combination of rotatable means upon which materialmay be wound, a variable speed motor for driving said rotatable means, and means for varying the speed of said motor to thereby regulate the speed of said rotatable means comprising a pump driven by said motor, a valve for controlling the output of the pump, a pair of substantially coaxially arranged rotatable cooperating nut and screw members, one of said members being driven by said material, means for driving the other of said members at substantially constant speed, said nut and screw members being adapted for relative movement along their common axis in response to relative rotary movement between the members, and means actuated by such relative axial movement for operating said valve.

NORMAN H. NYE. 

